THE last time Scotland travelled to Portugal for a competitive international, the night ended in multiple casualties.
A 5-0 defeat in Benfica’s Stadium of Light was a bruising reality check. A night when nothing went to plan.
Ally McCoist sustained a broken leg. Jorge Cadete — later of Celtic — scored twice as the Scots were sliced and diced at will.
Ashen-faced, Andy Roxburgh emerged after the game to claim that ‘a team died out there’.
A dead man walking, Roxburgh wasn’t far behind. The SFA finally flicked the switch on the life support machine when a run of five straight appearances at the World Cup finals came to a stuttering end.
There are results a Scotland manager can never overcome. Nights which come to define his reign and, ultimately, finish him.
Scotland players trudge off after suffering a heavy 5-0 defeat to Portugal in 1993
Pat Nevin tries to evade a lunging challenge from Portugal defender Fernando Couto
Scotland striker Ally McCoist is taken off the field on a stretcher after breaking his leg
Steve Clarke survived the anger and disbelief that followed a painfully cautious loss to Hungary in the game which ended Scotland’s Euro 2024 campaign in Germany.
Returning to Lisbon on a run of one win from the last 13 games, the current manager is running out of lives. He can’t afford the kind of turkey shoot which finished Roxburgh in April 1993. He can’t afford to be the patsy in the Cristiano Ronaldo show.
After an improved performance in a 3-2 defeat to Poland, people were falling over themselves to look for positives. An old phrase concerning clutching and straws springs to mind.
The Poles had a dismal Euros, taking one point from three games. Pulling the same trick as Hungary, they claimed a stoppage-time winner after scoring from all three of their shots on target. Two from the penalty spot.
Since securing qualification for Germany, Scotland have fallen off a cliff. Their only win was a friendly game against Gibraltar. They’re in the middle of their longest winless run at home since 2008. They’ve shipped 17 goals in their last eight games — anaverage of two a match.
Poland wasn’t all bad. Scott McTominay was back doing what he does best, there was attitude, energy and dig. With 20 minutes to play, Clarke finally threw off the shackles, rolled the dice and took a punt on debutants Ben Doak and Ryan Gauld. Not before time was the cry.
A recovery from two goals down might have bought the manager some time and respite and maybe it still should. The trouble with promises of jam tomorrow is that they fall on deaf ears when the team are losing games in the here and now.
The credits banked by the manager for reaching back-to-back finals are draining fast.
Pressure is beginning to build on Scotland manager Steve Clarke following a poor run of results
Scott McTominay and Grant Hanley are distraught after conceding late on against Poland
When Scotland were winning games, the perception of Clarke as a slightly dour, hangdog, cautious coach was neither here nor there. When they made a habit of losing, the tolerance wore thin and it became another stick to beat him with Clarke doesn’t help himself at times. He has never gone out of his way to assist journalists seeking a steer on a player.
In the run-up to Poland, there was no real evidence of a mea culpa for the Tartan Army after a dismal Euros. Prickly and defiant in his public dealings, his starting XI remained stubbornly loyal to the players who propelled the national team to back to back Euro finals. He could use a big win now to get the critics off his back. Or some of them, at least.
With every defeat, the ranks of the naysayers swell and grow.
And, heading for Lisbon and Zagreb in the next two games, some are sharpening their knives, and preparing themselves for a swift kill.
The current run could easily stretch to one win in 15 or 16 games and, if it does, the dripping tap of negativity will bring a build-up of water so heavy the roof would cave in.
The SFA board are not looking out a number for the plumber just yet. President Mike Mulraney appointed Clarke and he’ll remain loyal to his man until the day comes when he’s left with no alternative. For Hampden office-bearers, changing Scotland managers is a grim fact of life.
Up there with death and taxes, they know the tipping point will eventually come — because it always does.
The 4-6-0 episode in Prague did for Craig Levein. It’s now 12 years since the current manager of St Johnstone walked into a hotel in Brussels, fashionably late for a press conference, and remarked on the splendour of the surroundings.
‘Too nice for this lot,’ said Levein, eyeing a Scottish press pack drumming fingers on the table.
Defeat to Belgium ended a World Cup qualifying campaign after four games and there was no way back.
Standing in a corridor in Slovenia after missing out on a World Cup play-off slot in 2017, Gordon Strachan’s observations on genetics didn’t have quite the impact he intended.
Poland's Nicola Zalewski celebrates after scoring the winner at Hampden on Thursday evening
Cristiano Ronaldo has Scotland in his sights after scoring his 900th career goal midweek
The size of the players was less of a problem than the failure to reach another finals and he was gone shortly after.
When Alex McLeish shipped three goals in Kazakhstan, meanwhile, a post-match chat with newspapers was improvised in a stadium kitchen area.
His goose, too, was cooked.
Mitigation for the current manager stems from a glance at the players at his disposal.
First choice right-backs Aaron Hickey and Nathan Patterson are recuperating from injury, forcing Clarke to field Anthony Ralston, Celtic’s second choice right-back.
There were three players from Norwich City in the starting XI against Poland, while the main striker currently plies his trade with Birmingham City.
Earlier this month, an SFA report identified serious issues with youth development in comparison to countries of similar size. Players aged 21 and under play significantly fewer minutes than countries such as Denmark, Norway and Croatia. The pathway to first-team football is blocked by an army of overseas journeymen and loan signings from England.
The night a team died in Lisbon, a debate over the lack of quality players coming through the ranks began in earnest.
Despite the think tanks and short-lived grassroots initiatives, it’s still rumbling on three decades later and the game is further than ever from finding a solution. The SFA allow a report by Chief Football Officer Andy Gould to simply gather dust in a desk on Hampden’s sixth floor.
A dearth of young talent has created a ticking timebomb for the national football team. And sacking one Scotland manager after another is like shuffling the deckchairs on the Titanic.
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Tavernier now a poster boy for failure ... he should leave while he can
THE Turkish transfer window closes on Friday. And James Tavernier should already be on the phone, urging his agent to get cracking.
Forget the lure of a testimonial year. The Rangers captain is hardly short of a bob or two.
He would hardly move to Turkey for buttons. And the money from a testimonial is barely worth the grief certain to come his way if Celtic spend the season hoovering up more trophies.
Rangers captain James Tavernier is shouldering much of the blame for Rangers' struggles
In hindsight, the summer window was the perfect time for the skipper to wave farewell and say thanks for the memories.
Last season, he was crowned British football’s highest scoring defender. Hurtling towards 500 appearances in a light blue jersey, he was inducted to the club’s Hall of Fame. Despite all those rumours over a move to Turkey, he stayed put.
And that’s starting to look like a bad call from both sides.
Tavernier’s goals and assists stats are remarkable for a full-back. They cover a multitude of sins.
The problem lies with his defending, his frailties exposed once more during last Sunday’s 3-0 defeat to Celtic at Parkhead. In nine seasons at Ibrox, Tavernier has lifted just three of the 27 trophies up for grabs.
Over the same period, Celtic have won five domestic trebles.
To lay the blame for that on one player would be silly. The cap’s big enough and directors, failed managers and hopeless team-mates should all wear it.
The trouble is that the captain has now become a poster boy for failure. Every time things go wrong, he’s found at the scene of the crime telling everyone how disappointed he is to be caught red handed yet again.
Video footage emerged last Sunday of Tavernier being singled out for abuse by one irate supporter outside Ibrox.
For a moment, it looked as if the skipper would snap and have a pop back at his assailant A good job he didn’t. If he’d taken a swing, Daizen Maeda would have nipped in on the blindside and made contact first.